In the play of golf, the object is to place a golf ball into a hole in as few strokes as possible. The hole, which is located on a green, is marked with a flag, also referred to as a stick or pin. The golfer selects the desired club to hit the ball towards the hole based on several factors including the type of surface upon which the ball sits (i.e., the fairway, rough, or bunker), and the distance the ball is from the hole.
As is readily known by golfers, the remaining distance to the flag can be determined by referring to permanent distance markers set out along the fairway. These yardage markers are generally set at some yard increments, including a marker at 150 yards. The golfer is therefore required to interpolate or estimate his or her exact location. Furthermore, these fixed yardage markers do not account for variations in the placement of the hole on the green; the hole placement is varied on the green both for increased interest for the golfer who plays the same course often and to reduce wear and tear on the green.
There exist devices which the golfer can carry with her or him to determine the distance to the hole. It is recognized that by comparing the relative height, as viewed by the golfer, of two objects of known height, when the distance to the first object is known, the distance to the second object can be determined. Referring to FIG. 1, the height (h.sub.f) of the flag is a known height, typically seven (7) feet. A range finder device is placed a known distance (d.sub.rf) in front of the golfer's eye. The distance to the flag (d.sub.f) can be determined by positioning the flag pole as seen between spaced marks, defining a known height (h.sub.rf), on the range finder device and reading the distance (d.sub.f) to the flag. The determination is based on a ratio using similar triangles ##EQU1## U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,395 discloses a golf tool which includes a range-finder that works similar to the method described above. One of the problems of previous range-finders is that the range-finder needs to be stored in the golf bag or elsewhere between uses and the golfer is less likely to use the range-finder if the golfer has to pull it out every time she or he wants to use it.
It is desired to have a range finder that is both readily accessible and stores conventionally.